Open Left - Election Day

After 2008 Election, Some States Want to Make Voting Easier; Others Determined to Make it Harder

project vote — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 17:32:40 GMT

Cross-posted at Project Vote's blog, Voting Matters

Weekly Voting Rights News Update

By Erin Ferns

Following an historic turnout in the 2008 election comes a flurry of election reform agendas from both sides of the battle over voting rights. Since November 4, some state lawmakers have seized on the success of early voting and Election Day Registration (EDR) as models for facilitating voter registration, while others appear to have been threatened by the heightened turnout and inspired to introduce restrictive voter ID and proof-of-citizenship bills for the 2009 legislative session.

Following what appears to be significant progress this year in closing participation gaps among historically underrepresented young and minority voters, we review Election Day stories in states with voter ID and EDR laws, and preview next year's legislative battle for election reform.
Election Day Registration

In North Carolina, lawmakers report being "proud" of the implementation of the state's 2007 Same Day Registration law, which permits early voters to register and vote at established "One-Stop" voting sites, according to the Raleigh News and Observer. In the 2008 primary and presidential elections, the law seemed to boost voter registration while cutting the use of provisional ballots by more than half, compared to figures from the 2004 election. On average, EDR states tend to outperform non-EDR states in election outcome by a minimum of 10 percentage points, according to public policy group, Demos.

"State Rep. Paul Luebke said he expects other states to model North Carolina's early voting system," according to the report. "The only change he would suggest for the next elections would be to standardize the hours, encouraging local boards of elections to stay open longer in early voting."

Despite the smooth success of Same Day Registration at early voting sites in North Carolina and other states,Republican lawmakers in Ohio are pushing to end the state's new mandate to allow voters to register during the early voting period.

State Republicans recently announced that they would file legislation to move the voter registration deadline to 65 days before Election Day, according to an Associated Press report. They hope to pass the bill before the 2008 session ends "and a new, Democratic-controlled House takes over in January."

However, election law expert Dan Tokaji said the bill will likely run into opposition as "federal law clearly prohibits states from having registration deadlines earlier than 30 days before an election."

Before the Nov. 4 election, the "Republican Party sued Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to stop the same-day window...but state and federal courts upheld it."

Brunner has planned an election summit in December to review the elections process and will likely not adhere to any changes before the new legislature takes over, according to the AP report.

Meanwhile, states like West Virginia are considering implementing Election Day Registration, which currently exists in about eight other states in its traditional form whereby eligible citizens may show up at their polling place on Election Day, register to vote and cast a ballot. First implemented in Maine in 1973, EDR is also practiced in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, New Hampshire and Wyoming. Other states, like North Carolina, Ohio and Connecticut permit variations of the option to register and vote at the same time, either during an early voting period, or-in the case of Connecticut-on a special ballot that only allows them to vote for the president.

"I lost my card, and I didn't think I could do it too close to the time," said one West Virginia voter and supporter of an EDR law, according to Parksburg, W. Va. News station, WTAP. "So, if it was that way, I could have voted."

However, Woods County clerk, Jamie Six, who "studied the idea for the state clerk's association" is against the implementation of EDR.

"The poll workers have a long and very busy day already," Six said. "And to add this to their plate to take care of on election day, we don't feel it would be fair."

While EDR in the state is unlikely, Six says it is possible to allow voters to register during the early voting period. "A committee of the West Virginia Legislature is to hear from Six on Monday," according to WTAP.

In the 2008 session, about 19 states introduced EDR legislation. Bills are pending in four states: Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Ohio. None of these bills have moved since this summer.

At least two states, Texas and Montana, which currently practices EDR, have pre-filed several bills relating to EDR for the 2009 session.

Voter ID

While some states were facilitating voter registration and voting this year, Indiana - home of the country's strictest voter ID law - reportedly turned some of its young voters away without casting a regular ballot, and even encouraged poll workers in other states to mandate voter ID when no such law existed in the first place.

Despite being properly registered and equipped with out-of-state and student ID, the young voters were only allowed to vote provisionally on Nov. 4, leaving some discouraged and others in tears, according to a letter to the Indianapolis Star by Leon Riley, an election official at Butler University's Hinkle Fieldhouse precinct.

"The Indiana voter ID law amounted to disenfranchisement for a number of young, well-informed voters, as well as some voters who have various limitations of resources, transportation and problem-solving ingenuity. Is this what we want for some of our brightest and best, or for some who need help along the way? In fairness, this unnecessary barrier must be abolished," wrote Riley.

The day before the election, an emergency motion was filed to stop enforcement of the voter ID law based on constitutional violations. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago denied the motion a week later without citing any reasons why, according to the Indiana Lawyer.

With the controversy over the U.S. Supreme Court's upholding of Indiana's voter ID law, and a flurry of voter registration fraud allegations in the weeks before the election, poll workers in some states appeared confused over their own states' laws. Voters in Mecklenburg County, Virgina, for example, complained that poll workers illegally asked them to provide proof of identification, including photo ID, according to the Smith Hill Enterprise. There were also reports of misleading signs outside of polling places that indicated photo ID was required.

The misinformation amounted to a misinterpretation of the Help America Vote Act, which required voters who registered by mail after 2003 to provide proof of ID.

"The voter being asked to present a photo ID is not the preferred language to use," said Jessica Lane of the State Board of Elections. The preferred language, she said, is to ask for "a form of ID."

Whatever the intention, voters were set back after waiting hours in long lines, leaving to get their IDs, or possibly, not return at all, according to the Enterprise.

"I am registered with neither party. I am a devout independent with libertarian leanings, but I believe in the constitution and the fact that everyone needs to get out and vote," wrote one concerned voter. "Was anyone denied the right to vote? If they did not have a photo ID and saw the sign, did they say 'Oops. I guess I can't vote' and leave?".

For voter ID advocates, preventing the extremely rare crime of individual voter fraud is worth the risk of compromising a voter's right to cast a ballot. However, preventing many eligible voters from casting a ballot just to prevent a rare crime hardly seems on par with democracy. A four year investigation by the federal government found only 24 instances of voter fraud out of more than 214 million votes cast. Several studies have found that a number of already under-represented Americans - primarily young, elderly, minority and poor - would have a difficult time meeting the requirements. These studies include a Brennan Center survey that found 21 million Americans were without the required identification; a University of Washington study that found about a quarter of Indiana's young, African-American and low income voting-age populations lack the necessary ID; and a University of Georgia study found the state's Latino and Black voters were twice as likely not to posses required ID compared to White voters.

Yet despite the lack of evidence of voter fraud, and a well known, recent history of young and elderly voters missing out on the democratic process in Indiana (including Indiana nuns and Notre Dame University students who were turned away in the 2008 primaries) lawmakers in states like Oklahoma and Texas are hoping to make voter ID a reality in 2009.

While acknowledging that Oklahoma Speaker of the House Chris Benge "and the others pushing for a voter ID system have a certain level of common sense on their side (one idea is to offer free ID with their plan), Wayne Greene of the Tulsa World dismisses the argument that if people are required to show photo ID to cash a check, they should be required to show ID when they vote. Greene points out that there is plenty of evidence of people attempting to cash fraudulent checks, but no evidence of people attempting to cast fraudulent votes in Oklahoma.

"Benge told me he didn't have any examples of fraudulent voting to justify what sounds like a pretty expensive free ID system," Greene says. The state, which introduced and failed seven voter ID bills this year, will convene for the 2009-2010 session next February.

Immediately after Election Day, lawmakers in Texas - where there was a serious voter ID battle during the 2007 session - pre-filed a few bills requiring voter ID as well as proof-of-citizenship at registration.
Supporters of voter ID hope to have it in effect by the next gubernatorial election, according to local publication, Athens Daily Review.

In total this year, 25 states introduced voter ID bills, and bills are still pending in four states: Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Track these and other election-related bills by visiting www.ElectionLegislation.org.

After this presidential election's phenomenal turnout that showed the American electorate is finally closer to representing all of its citizens, lawmakers should recognize that voters take this fundamental right seriously. The passage of laws that help facilitate that right are far more conducive to a fair and healthy democracy than the passage of those that prevent some citizens from voting at all.

Quick Links:
www.ElectionLegislation.org

In Other News:

More minorities voted this year, but white turnout dropped - McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON - Barack Obama's 8.5 million-vote margin over John McCain was fueled by a more than 20 percent surge in minority voting, a new analysis of exit polling data suggests.

Minnesota group asks feds to investigate problems with state's voter rolls - Associated Press
ST. PAUL (AP) - A group opposed to Minnesota's same-day voter registration law has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate problems it suspects with the state's voter rolls.

Woman seeks limits on mentally disabled voters - Associated Press
GRINNELL - A Deep River woman wants to change a[n Iowa] state law to require that mentally disabled voters be supervised when they cast a ballot.

Erin Ferns is a Research and Policy Analyst with Project Vote's Strategic Writing and Research Department (SWORD

Election reflection - One Week Later

Sinister — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:33:22 GMT

Also posted to Sinister and DailyKos.

Just the fact of this election is hard to fathom. There have been change elections before this one. Reagan. Lincoln. Kennedy. All come to mind. All were defining moments in American history.

And yet, for me, this particular election has some kind of special significance. It's not just that I'm here, I'm alive, and I'm witnessing this piece of history. It's not just that America has just shaken off the shackles of the last 8 years of a criminal regime and reclaimed the best of what our democracy represents. It's not just that America has shaken off the last 200 years and risen above the petty politics of race to elect the most passionate, intelligent leader we've seen in a long time. It's not just that the catharsis of seeing the vindication of the movement that Obama created is an emotionally overwhelming experience. Keith Olbermann compared this election to the moon landing. It's more than that, though. The historical importance of this election is akin to nothing that we've seen in a century.
I'm watching YouTube clips of the moment that Obama was declared the winner of this election. The national celebration of that moment is unlike anything I've ever seen in my admittedly short life. The Grant Park rally was a stunning vision of what is best about America - people young and old, black and white and yellow and brown, rich and poor, all coming together to believe that America is better than the criminal history of the last eight years.

It's been a damned long time since I've been this proud of America. I remember the election of 2000, and I remember graduating college right before 9/11. I remember the last 8 years. I felt ashamed of America. I felt ashamed that our leaders exploited our nation's goodwill to craft an agenda of military misadventure and the destruction of our civil liberties. I felt ashamed that our President seemed incapable of doing anything right, that our Vice President seemed to be in control of a Machiavellian agenda of torture, unilateralism, destruction, hate, and war.

But now, at the dawn of what is truly a new chapter of American history, I can feel proud of this country. I can feel proud of a nation that sees beyond race, beyond fear tactics, beyond the politics of division and distraction, to see that real progressive change is possible.

I have no doubt that President Barack Hussein Obama II will disappoint me at some point. I have no illusion that he's some kind of messiah. He's just a President.

And yet, I can't help but hope, after all of the horrible things that the Bush regime has done over the past 8 years to absolutely desecrate the meaning of America that President Obama will be able to really reignite the spirit of American democracy and create the change that we so desperately need.

For the first time in a long time, I believe in the promise of America, and I have President-Elect Obama to thank for that.

Yes we can.

Vote '08

Justin Krebs — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:40:36 GMT

The above note hangs on the wall of the Norristown, PA Obama office where my sister has been working. A grandkid's plea...so here's mine:

Need it be said? Go out there and vote.

Bring a child to watch you vote.
Bring a friend and double your vote.
Bring an umbrella, a book, a sound system -- make it a party, as Color of Change recommended to its list, to keep people engaged, keep them entertained and (most importantly) keep them in line.

Wear a button.
Smile at people who are wearing buttons.
Start conversations about your button.
High five strangers -- it's awesome.

If you're in NY, make your vote count more by voting for the Working Families Party line.

You've donated, you've blogged, you've swayed your friends. If you have any hours today, do more than vote -- we need you in the field or on the phone, every hour you have.

Then - join friends afterward as we watch the results.

Down ballot, down home. Vote Local

jpfdeuce — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 19:12:18 GMT

(x-posted on Daily Kos)

Mutually Assured Destruction had a great diary today about Obama securing votes from elderly Floridians -- how Hillary helped convert them and how John McCain assured them not to vote for him. The point of this diary isn't to simply note that diary. Nope.

The diary, however, reminded me how easily forgotten the rest of the ballot can be. I can't say that Floridians in Tampa Bay, Florida in general or elsewhere in the country are aware that there vote counts on more than just the presidential election. And it's vital in those down-ballot races for that matter.

While people are sold on Barack Obama, how many of them are aware of or participating in the down ballot races?
The reason why I pointed to Mutually Assured Destruction's diary in the opening wasn't to single him out and that instance. It was actually the reference to "the bay area" -- namely Tampa Bay (insert appropriate GO RAYS remark here). Being a Tampa Bay resident and a participant in local politics through online campaigning and what not -- I take the down-ballot races seriously.

It's been echoed on Daily Kos and elsewhere on the blogosphere that Barack Obama will have coattails this election cycle... Yet through an online discussion on a local extension of an international message board (Skyscraper City, their Tampa-St. Pete forum) I was reminded that many locals don't know down ballot races or other candidates for office. Only the most volatile or most pressing are getting the focus of voters of all ages and that disturbs me. It's part of the reason local congressional districts in the heart of Tampa Bay aren't in play -- underexposure. It also holds true for local offices such as County Commission, supervisor of elections, and so on and so forth.

Under exposure. Non exposure. Sheer ignorance of the voting population that has tuned out to the repeated political ads. My guess is this isn't happening here alone.

So, in a simple yet possibly effective manner, the local DEC's have come together to launch Vote Local Now in the Tampa Bay area (representing Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties) in order to give more face time for local candidates and the down-ballot races that may very well be settled by the coattails of Barack Obama.

Case in point, State Representative in Florida House District 48. In 2006, Carl "Z" Zimmermann, the Democrat in the race, lost his election by less than 1500 votes in a heavily Republican district of the county.

1500 votes, folks, between getting a Democratic voice in the heavily GOP state legislature. Carl is running again, against now-incumbent Republican Peter Nehr. Nehr has the financial edge but Zimmermann has broad appeal and the endorsements of both local dailies (the St. Pete Times and the Tampa Tribune).

This is a huge example of why awareness in your local races throughout the nation is MANDATORY. While the Obama campaign and his advisers (as well as many of his supporters here online) warn against complacency, the same must be said about only focusing on one race on your ballot.

Vote Local is also represented on Facebook (groups for Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties in Florida can be found) and what you will find on these group pages are simple ways to remember the candidates -- their campaign signs. Videos of each candidate and positions going out to page subscribers on the social network. As far as I know it's a first-of-it's-kind means to remind people of the down-ballot races.

This is just my local example of trying to raise awareness. My local story (and I am not involved in Vote Local Now, I am simply voicing my endorsement of the concept) is just one small example (on a national scale) of how the profile of downballot Democrats need your focus and support. You know who you are voting for (and many of you have already partaken in early voting). Now get to know the rest of those that will need your support on election day. Or make sure those who are undecided / finally coming to a decision on the presidential race start finding out about the other local races... Because Democracy begins from the ground up, though it can surely gain a boost from the top down on election day.

Phone Out the Vote

Living Liberally — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:30:00 GMT

Drinking Liberally Shot of Truth
by Justin Krebs

We at Drinking Liberally like to talk -- that's why we do it over beers every week. We think talking is a pretty powerful way to connect to people.

So naturally, we smile when a telephone company figures out yet another way to be an awesome progressive partner.

CREDO is giving its customers free Election Day calling. So, don't worry about burning your minutes as you call everyone you know to remind them to vote, or phonebank with a campaign calling voters, or work in the field and need to check in with fellow canvassers.

It's all free. You could call it, ahem, Talking Liberally.

This is on top of their "Text Out the Vote" plan which allows you to set up text GOTV reminders to friends that will be sent on November 4th. Plus their newly-launched Go Vote which confirms registration and gives you polling location. And their totally rocking voter registration widget.

Oh, also they don't censor pro-choice texting and they didn't help the government spy on you.

In past years, I burned through my minutes in the months leading up to elections, so much so that I invested in bigger plans, earlier evening hours and unlimited texting. I don't know other people's plans for Election Day, but I hope it involves talking -- constantly -- in person, at doors, online, and on the phone.

You can become a CREDO customer and get the unlimited calling -- and the includes all the excited calls you'll want to make as the results start coming in.

Ohio Secretary of State Brunner Does Right By Voters

project vote — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 00:08:57 GMT

For a while now we've been keeping you informed of Project Vote's efforts to prevent a repeat of massive voter caging operations that plagued Ohio in the 2004 elections. A controversial series of vague voter challenge laws, passed by the Ohio legislature in 2006, allowed any voter's eligibility to be challenged, without notice, based on nothing more than a single piece of returned, unforwardable mail. This is the same trick the GOP used to challenge over 35,000 Ohio voters in 2004, when the outcome of the entire presidential election was riding on that state. This transparent voter suppression tactic worked in 2004, and the 2006 laws made it even easier. Project Vote has estimated that, in 2008, voter caging could result in as many as 600,000 eligible voters-mostly low-income Americans, people of color, and youths-being stricken from the Ohio voter rolls without notice or due process.
In cooperation with another organization, Project Vote has been working on the situation for months, urging Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to stand up for Ohioans and put a stop to these partisan practices. On Friday, Secretary Brunner showed that she had heard many of our concerns, and took steps to help protect Ohio voters. To prevent partisan voter-caging operations, Brunner issued a binding directive to all county election boards, instructing them that parts of the 2006 challenge laws were unconstitutional and stating that granting a residency challenge based only on returned mail violates the National Voter Registration Act. Brunner's directive also advises that voters must be to be given due notice of any challenge before Election Day. Failure to follow these guidelines, Brunner indicated, could result in lawsuits from disenfranchised voters.

According to an AP story, Brunner acknowledges that the 2006 voter challenge laws appeared to have sprung from partisan attempts to challenge voter registrations based on returned mail. "When you line it all up you see a very flawed process that can put many people's rights in jeopardy," Brunner says. "I'm not sure what the motivation was and who drafted it. All I know is it's not likely to stand up in court."

Teresa James, attorney for Project Vote, appreciates Brunner's efforts to protect voters "Particularly in light of the troubling history of voter caging in Ohio," James says, "Secretary Brunner is to be commended for her work on this issue and her concern for Ohio voters. However, there is still work to be done to fully protect the voters from voter caging."

While Brunner's directive makes it clear that residency challenges based solely on returned mail would be denied, we know all too well from history that partisans might file frivolous challenges anyway to intimidate voters and reduce turnout of low-income and minority voters on Election Day. They've used this trick before, and we're working with our allies to make sure they don't get away with it this time. We'll keep you informed as the situation develops, but for now we recognize Secretary Brunner for taking positive steps on this vital issue.